President has duty to uphold Constitution — even by force

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is defying the authority of the federal government just as other Southern governors did before the Civil War and during the fight over school desegregation. Like presidents before him, Joe Biden has the right — and, ultimately, the duty — to uphold the Constitution, including by force.

Abbott has refused to obey a Supreme Court ruling that allows the Biden administration to remove razor wire and other obstacles the Texas National Guard installed along the state’s border. The governor’s aim is to prevent migrants — including asylum seekers — from crossing the Rio Grande. To that end, officers have “physically barred” U.S. Border Patrol agents from even reaching at least one sector of the border, according to federal officials.

Abbott claimed the federal government “has broken the compact between the United States and the States” and that, therefore, Texas has “the right of self-defense.” But no state has the right to defy the Supreme Court. Abbott’s unhinged declaration came two days after the court issued a 5-4 decision in the Biden administration’s favor. By law, that ended the monthslong standoff between the governor and the president.

Incredibly, however, 25 other Republican governors issued a statement endorsing not just usurpation of presidential power, but also defiance of the nation’s ultimate authority on the Constitution and our laws. One of them, Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, explained her position to Fox News. “Texas and those 13 original colonies would’ve never signed the treaty that formed the first Constitution of the United States if they didn’t think their right to protect themselves and defend their own people was protected,” she said. Bless her heart. Texas, of course, was not one of the original colonies. It was a territory of Spain when the Constitution was ratified in 1788 and did not become a state until 1845.

When it did finally accede, however, Texas agreed to obey that Constitution, which gives federal law supremacy over state laws. What can Biden do? Plenty. In 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus deployed National Guard troops to prevent the first nine Black students from enrolling at Little Rock Central High School. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, citing the 1807 Insurrection Act, sent troops from the 101st Airborne Division to escort the Black students into their new school. And he federalized the entire Arkansas National Guard.

In 1963, Alabama Gov. George Wallace performed his famous “schoolhouse door” stunt to prevent the first two African American students from registering at the University of Alabama. President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order federalizing the Alabama National Guard.

Biden surely does not relish going so far. But Eisenhower and Kennedy did not want to take that step, either.

If they are truly interested in securing the border, Abbott and the other Republican governors should become part of the solution.

We get it: They don’t like Biden, and they want to weaken him politically. But Biden has the duty, and the power, to defend the Constitution. I hope foolish political machinations do not force Biden to act.